Hoo boy, I was already aware that Shigure was shady since I read the manga, but goodness just seeing him animated and voiced in this episode, he legit scared me. Especially with how manipulative and just downright spiteful he can be. I don’t know about everyone else, but the Shigure x Akito ship was always really weird to me. Even now I can’t help but go: Isn’t this an incredibly toxic relationship…? Both sides are extremely antagonistic and possessive of each other. Not to mention how incredibly messed up their circumstances ended up being. Especially when you find out that Shigure freaking slept with Ren out of spite for Akito having slept with Kureno, which ended in Shigure getting kicked out of the main house. And sheesh, that was a pretty big bombshell for anime only’s. Because there’s low… and then there’s sleeping with your loved one’s mom.
Shigure was probably one of the biggest enigmas in this anime for people who haven’t read the manga. No one knew what his deal was. He’s dropped a lot of hints, but I don’t think anyone could clearly pinpoint what Shigure was going for. For a while, Shigure has held onto this almost overwhelming love for Akito. Though I will admit, it was a little weird for him to express this love to her as a child while he seemingly was a teenager. This series really does not shy away from age gap romances…
But man, I continue to feel really bad for Tohru. She’s carrying so much baggage that she can’t share with anyone. Even with Kyo who she has been able to unload anything to since the information she has involves him in some way. And while Hanajima and Arisa were able to help unload a little, there’s still a lot she has to keep to herself. It’s honestly hard to watch her struggle like this and that part where Momiji let go of her hand felt symbolic in a way.
It was very funny seeing Kyo panic over possibly coming across too dismissive to Tohru’s hypothetical question. And while I’m not Kyo’s biggest fan, it is nice to see him softer. But I do wish he was a bit nicer to others besides Tohru. I do appreciate him apologizing and trying to be a little more aware of his phrasing. And I will admit it was very sweet to see him try and make it up to Tohru by giving her a white flower. He may not know exactly what is the actual cause of Tohru’s depression, but at least he was able to help lift her spirits just a bit.
Even Yuki gets hit with a flower… literally. The poor boy just wanted to be helpful but everyone was just turning him away because they didn’t want bother him. YUKI JUST WANTS TO BE TREATED NORMALLY FOR ONCE DANG IT. He even looks out the window to see a group of friends hanging out and fooling around and comments how it looks fun. Boy, you have your own little group in the student council to hang out and be dumb with! I don’t particularly care for the Yuki Machi ship, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t funny to watch them interact. Just the fact that she basically chases him down just to say hi made me cackle all the while denying that she needed him for something. Poor Yuki is just left confused lol. But it did touch him that she came to him out of everyone just to say hello. After being turned away by everyone else, someone finally came to go get him. Which promptly earned him a flower to the face when he patted her on the head lol.
And while those two exchanged flowers, the scene is paralleled with Shigure offering Akito a paper flower of his own. However, unlike the white flower that Kyo gave to Tohru and Machi gave Yuki, that most likely represented purity, Shigure gave Akito a red flower. While I’m not entirely sure what it represents, but just from the context of their relationship, it felt like a very twisted and distorted sign of love considering how messy their relationship has come to be. And boy did that scene escalate from 0 to 100 real fast lol.
Compared to everyone else, Akito has always acted a little different when around Shigure. He was always someone that seemed to be able to slip out of grasp and she’s almost always chasing after him in a sense and gets upset when she can’t get her way with him. Everyone else seems to revere her as the God of the Zodiac, but Shigure always treats her differently. He’s not afraid of her, not bending when she throws one of her tantrums and purposefully seems to push her buttons. She is also shown watching him longingly from afar in both the past and present. Shigure almost seems like he wants her to chase after him or at least be the one to approach him. But because of Akito’s position of being God, others come to her, not the other way around so she seems to be unused to this. However, most of their “tender” moments only happen when Akito makes the first move. Not to mention that Shigure does comment that he’s always been waiting for her.
While the scene between Shigure and Akito was unnerving, I absolutely loved the framing. Akito is constantly shown in the shadows and shuts out any light, Shigure bathes in it. Akito despises change while it seems like Shigure is pushing for it as he was the one to open the window in the first place. And just where they were standing in front of two different segments of the room with Shigure standing in front of a screen that had a horizontal pattern while Akito was standing in front of a screen that had a vertical pattern. Almost like Shigure was pointing towards Akito or at least intersecting with her path. Also, the camera following the fallen tie that Shigure threw off. As if throwing aside Akito’s barriers and titles to get to the girl underneath… literally. The symbolism game in this series is as strong as always.
This episode… was a lot lol. It was heavy as all heck with the inner dramas between Shigure and Akito and I think we now have a clearer picture of what Shigure is all about. He’s been wanting Akito this entire time, but things got messy, especially when Kureno’s curse broke and Akito most likely slept with him to ensure that he wouldn’t leave. Which only soured her relationship with Shigure since he most likely wanted to be her one and only. Hence his hatred towards Kureno. And while I can’t completely side with Shigure, I do agree that it would have been best if Kureno had left Akito instead of staying with her, which enabled her possessiveness towards the Zodiac. I did feel like this episode was a lot more fast paced as they fit in a lot of content. But it still turned out pretty good. We still got some fun and cute moments between the other character despite the intense Shigure Akito drama. I honestly laughed at how Kyo’s flowers were stolen just like Yuki’s. Guy has his share of fans (even the girl who he rejected in the second season lol). But there’s some foreboding things afoot and I wonder if anyone caught onto what was going on, especially when they showed that dark window…
Toxic, messed up, possessive, yeah Shigure x Akito ship pretty much includes all those words. I don’t hate Shigure, but it’s because of this side of him that I can’t fully like him. I think he deserves harder punch from Yuki and Kyo. Why did the anime has to show naked Ren? It was never shown in the manga. My eyes hurt seeing that old woman. (>x<lll)
At least Kyo × Tohru and Yuki x Machi shown in this episode soothed me. If the entire episode focused solely on Akito and Shigure, I don’t think I can watch the whole thing.
Hahahaha, yeah, this episode probably needed to pad itself with some fluff in order for it to be bearable. I totally get what you mean with Shigure, he’s just extremely shady and manipulative that it’s hard to like him. Though I’m sure that’s what makes other people like him as a character lol.
Speaking of not in the manga, I forgot to mention it, but the scene where it showed Akito in bed with Kureno wasn’t in the manga and it was actually just her waking up leaning on his shoulder in the car on the way to that dinner. Anime be like: How can we make this moment even more messed up than it already is? Thanks anime lol.